City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
––

They have already had a few of those each-one-looks-each-other-in-the-eyes moments. After a pair of Catholic League losses to Archbishop Wood and Father Judge, the St. Joe’s Prep boys basketball team conducted a few courtside player-only pow-wows after practice.

They spoke candidly about regaining the trust they had in one another. They stressed the need to trust each other’s decisions. They came to the resolution that if they worked as one, they all win.

Using crisp ball movement, trusting each other with the right shots, slicing through the heart of the Neumann-Goretti defense, and splashing what seemed like shot after shot, St. Joe’s Prep pulled off a 79-71 victory Friday night before a packed house at Carl Arrigale Court.

The victory marked the first time the Hawks have beaten perennial Catholic League powerhouse Neumann-Goretti since 2018, when the Hawks upset the Saints in the Catholic League quarterfinals.

And it adds to the logjam atop the PCL, with St. Joe’s Prep moving to 15-4 overall and 8-2 in the league and short-handed Neumann-Goretti falling to 16-2 and 7-2 after its second straight loss.

If the Hawks could bottle how they played against Neumann-Goretti, they have a good chance of getting to the Palestra for the Catholic League semifinals.

Four of the five starters reached double figures, topped by Jordan Ellerbee’s game-high 21, followed by 19 each from Jaron McKie and Jalen Harper and Olin Chamberlain’s 15.

St. Joe’s Prep did it with incredible shooting. McKie himself went 7 for 7 from the floor, while as a team, the Hawks shot 27 of 42 from the field, including 15 of 22 in the first half.

But despite that, Prep needed a strong fourth quarter to beat back the Saints, who will be without St. Joe’s-bound guard Khaafiq Myers for the rest of the season with an injury — and Hofstra-bound forward Amir Williams is still questionable to return from an injury.

Ellerbee applied the dagger — scoring 12 of his 21 in the final quarter. He was the jolt that stirred the Hawks, hitting three straight buckets for Prep’s first eight points of the quarter.

When the Saints rallied midway through the quarter, once again, to within 63-59 with 4:21 to play, Ellerbee, the Hawks’ 6-foot-2 junior guard rose up and nailed another crucial shot.

“Every one of us is dangerous,” Ellerbee said. “The goal is to trust each other at all times. Trust may have been an issue. We had a player meeting about it. We talked about what we needed to do to win. We all took a leadership role. Everyone spoke. We talked about trusting each other.”

Hawks’ coach Jason Harrigan, in his fourth year, has created a dynamic team that is fun to watch. They run the floor, they share the ball and they were fearless driving the lane against usually stubborn Neumann-Goretti.

The last time the Hawks reached the Catholic League semifinals and played at the Palestra in the Catholic League was six years ago.

That drought could end this year.

“These guys work hard every day and their energy before the game was big, and throughout the game Neumann-Goretti won’t stop playing, we know that,” Harrigan said. “We countered the runs, and we trusted each other. It was not that they did not trust each other before, but they believed in themselves so much they kind of wanted to do it themselves.

“We’re getting to the point of sharing the wealth. They realize they are a great team when they play together. For a complete game, from start to finish, this might be our best game. We still have things to clean up, though.”

McKie, the son of former Temple Hall of Famer Aaron McKie, was unconscious in the second quarter. He scored 13 of his 19 points on 6-for-6 shooting in the frame. Anything he wanted to do, he did. 

“We are way closer together than we were a month ago — just that bond that we’ve built, we realize if we share the ball, we will win,” Jaron McKie said. “We trust each other, and we have to play better defense. But I never shot like this before, and I’m a way better shooter than my dad (who played 15 years in the NBA) — and he knows it (laughs).”

Neumann-Goretti will try to salvage the pieces of this setback. Saints’ legendary coach Carl Arrigale is a straight shooter who does not mince words.

He was not about to use the Saints’ injuries as an excuse.

“We still have to play better,” Arrigale said. “I expect more. That’s just not the way we play defense. I know the way (Prep) plays. They like to shoot the ball. We didn’t contest enough shots, especially in the first half. We had a couple of runs in the second half. You have to give them credit. They got to the middle way too much, and it’s something we pride ourselves not letting teams get middle on us.

“I’ve been doing this too long. There is no time for excuses. We’re in a tough league. We can’t cancel the games until everyone is healthy again. We have to keep fighting and keep working. We have to make more of a commitment at the defensive end. (Prep) is a high-octane team. They scored nearly 80 points on the road. That can’t be. Our focus is not where it needs to be right now.”

By Quarter

St. Joe’s Prep: 14 | 25 | 11 | 29 || 79

Neumann-Goretti: 12 | 17 | 19 | 23 || 71

Scoring

St. Joe’s Prep: Jordan Ellerbee 21, Jaron McKie 19, Jalen Harper 19, Olin Chamberlain 15, Will Lesovitz 3, Jackson Maguire 2.

Neumann-Goretti: Stephon Ashley-Wright 18, DeShaun Yates 16, Torrey Brooks 14, Keon Long-Mtume 13, Larenzo Jerkins 6, Matt Guokas 4.

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.